The line went dead.
Dimitri stood there, phone still pressed to his ear, feeling the weight of what had just happened settle on his shoulders.
His father was suspicious. He didn't have proof, but he had instinct, and Antonio Valentino's instincts had built an empire from nothing.
He'd start digging. Pulling threads. Using the networks he'd spent thirty years building.
And sooner or later, he'd find the truth.
Which meant Dimitri had to move faster.
The overthrow had always been a long-game strategy...careful, patient, methodical. Letting Antonio age himself out of relevance while Dimitri built quietly.
But the call had changed the calculation.
His father is already suspecting that he has started moving against him.
And the mention of Eve at the end....that was a threat wrapped in silk.
Dimitri went back inside, slid into bed behind Eve, and pulled her against him.
She stirred, turned in his arms, her eyes still heavy with sleep.
"Dimitri?"
